Rear view solution: monitor/mirror dash cam

[hummus]

Hi all,

I decided to try out a mirror/monitor style dash cam (Pormido D50, aka Pormido r998) on my car and am pretty happy with the results. As we all have experienced, driving the Stinger goes with having a rear view that is pretty obstructed by wide C pillars, low roof, and small back window. This style of dash cam opens up the view dramatically. The angle is quite wide so everything looks smaller, but overall it's a big upgrade IMO.

These pictures show what the view looks like with the device in "mirror" mode versus monitor mode. These are meant to show the difference in viewing angle rather than picture quality--various videos on YouTube show a better representation of PQ. All the cameras are 1080p so they aren't the best at capturing detail, but the WDR capabilities are absolutely top notch on this system (which, in addition to having a detached front camera, is why I chose this one). At night, you can actually completely see details on the car behind you, as the WDR prevents headlights from washing out the whole image. The front camera does an equally good job with headlights when looking at the recorded footage. The response time is also quite good; it's not instantaneous, but definitely not problematic. I would estimate less than 200ms of delay.

Disregard the wire mess; this was before I completed my cable management.

The camera you see above the mirror is for the interior; the actual rear view camera can be seen as the small bump above the center rear head rest in the first picture. I mounted it inside for now, but it's weather proof and can be mounted externally as well.





This last picture shows how I wired the rear camera: down the accordion-looking wire loom, down through the C-pillar to bottom of the door opening, then along the door sills and up to the driver's A-pillar.

 

[turboAWD]

So that's a shot of the camera / rear view in the 2nd picture? Nice..

 

[hummus]

So that's a shot of the camera / rear view in the 2nd picture? Nice..

Yes, that's right. The image quality is much better in person. I figure the culprits are my phone trying to capture an LCD at such a close distance, plus the rear tint having a filter effect that was tricking the camera in some way--adding graininess, loss of contrast, and I think what they call a moire effect. What I was trying to convey was the sheer angle though. And because the actual footage is full 16x9, you can actually scan up and down on the touch screen as well.

 

[turboAWD]

Definitely looks interesting. A bit like the 360 camera I didn't get in my GT1. I do miss that sometimes.

 

[hummus]

At low speeds, the added field of view is kind similar in function to the 360 camera.

But on the road, it adds something completely different. The field of view is so wide that it starts to overlap with the blind spot view monitor on the 2022 GT2, except you don't have to use the turn signal to activate it. You can literally see things up until they are right up to your bumper at the rear corners. If a car is passing you, by the time it leaves the rear view monitor, it will have already been visible out your side front windows. It's almost disorienting at first.

 

[General_Vodka]

i have a rear dash cam and the view isn't as wide as this one. how bright is it at night? I have my dashcam screen off to not distract me.

 

[hummus]

This video gives a pretty good representation of picture quality. The link goes directly to the night footage:

 

[General_Vodka]

That's actually not bad at all.

 

[Mike_TX]

What car is that? I don't see anything on my Stinger that looks like that.

 

[vipeboy2000]

What car is that? I don't see anything on my Stinger that looks like that.

looks like a sideways shot of the rear hatch open and top of the back seat with the headrests taken out

 

[hummus]

looks like a sideways shot of the rear hatch open and top of the back seat with the headrests taken out

Correctomundo. And the top center trim piece removed to route the last 3ft of wire.

 

[Mike_TX]

OK. Couldn't figure that one out!

 

[hummus]

Updating with some completed installation pictures

Monitor/screen, with cable management done



Front camera from outside


Front camera from inside


Rear camera from inside

 

[StingerJefferson]

Hey @hummus , I stayed away from considering these mirror solutions cause I thought they looked janky, but this is great. Super clean. How hard was the install/cable management?

 

[hummus]

Hey @hummus , I stayed away from considering these mirror solutions cause I thought they looked janky, but this is great. Super clean. How hard was the install/cable management?

Thanks for the comment.

Installation wasn't any more effort than any other front/rear setup. Still a single power wire, in this case going to the sceen/mirror. Power distributes from there to all the cameras and GPS module, so up front the trickiest part is the splitter, which is kind of bulky, but wasn't too hard to tuck away inside the mirror housing. (Edit: disclaimer, I do have a plain stripper GT so my mirror housing might be emptier than higher trims).

With the big screen and so many cameras, I chose to use the included 12v plug instead of going to a fuse (edit: I found it pulls over 3 amps fully loaded, which is more than most of the add-a-circuit fuse taps are rated for). That's is why I did this:



As with any other dual camera setup, the most involved part is running the wire to the rear camera. Original post shows how I did that; if you've ever run a power wire for a hood-mounted amplifier, it should be pretty familiar.

 

[StingerJefferson]

Thanks, Hummus, this is helpful. Right now that Viofio is on its way to me, but your point about lag is well taken. I'll give it a quick test and if it's a problem, I might well change my mind and go the mirror route.

 

[kdSpartan]

Hey - what trim Stinger do you have? Did your factory mirror have all the various electronic features that are wired into the car? Or just a standard mirror without any wiring to the car?

I have a GT2 so I have the big electronic housing at the top of the windshield and then the mirror seems pretty integrated to that and definitely wired into the car. I'm debating how the install would work with the GT2 mirrors and all the various windshield electronics and sensors. Would hate to get this then find out it isn't possible or is at least very difficult to install.

EDIT: NEVER MIND... I just watched the earlier parts of that video and looked around a bit on other sites and realized that the screen doesn't replace the factory mirror, rather it just straps to the front of it. So no need to remove/replace the factory mirror. So much easier!!

 

[hummus]

EDIT: NEVER MIND... I just watched the earlier parts of that video and looked around a bit on other sites and realized that the screen doesn't replace the factory mirror, rather it just straps to the front of it. So no need to remove/replace the factory mirror. So much easier!!

Yes, that's correct. No need to remove the factory mirror. It's possible that the straps can block the light sensor on the mirror though, but then you'd no longer be worried about the auto dimming function of the mirror. Not sure if this affects any dimming the side mirrors do though.

The hardest part of the installation is running the rear camera wire. For most DIY installers who have done dash cams before, it's really the only part that would be considered challenging. Wire management, depending on how many components you install (I left out the GPS and the interior camera) would be a distant second.